Syntax: A Generative Introduction

the topic itself is a bit hard to understand but he does a good job. the diagrams are plentious and well done. key words are in bold and are defined, making them easy to find later. the chapters are broken up and well organized with examples and boxes summarizing and clarifying concisely the main points. bolded words and their definitions are given again in a list at the end of each chapter, with further readings on this topic, followed by problem sets. a very Chomsky and generative grammar based explanation of syntax. most of the examples are in english but some other languages are included, mostly later in the book

This book is an excellent introduction into some of the more in-depth ideas about syntax theory. The explanations are clear and the writing is accessible even to a beginning linguist. The exercises in the book encourage the student to think in an analytical fashion, which I find crucial to doing well in the subject. To those among us who didn't enjoy the book, perhaps you should have taken a few linguistics courses before attempting generative syntax.

I don't know what book Joo Y. Chung (see review below) was reading, but it wasn't the same book that I read. Carnie's textbook is a very accessible text that avoids technical jargon (not "snobbily dumbed down" as Chung asserts) and I think the argumentation is entirely straightforward. For example in chapter 5, Carnie shows how the X-bar theory follows directly from the evidence of replacement operations. The motivations are totally clear and obvious, nothing is an "edict from on high" (ok, in some of the later chapters, Carnie doesn't immediately explain somethings, but he always gets back to it later (e.g. in chapter 6 there is no explanation of why we have specifiers, but Carnie is totally up front about it, and the book returns to it in later chapters. Sometimes I didn't understand the motivations for things until I tried the problem sets, but overall I think everything was pretty clearly laid out.) I've taken two Syntax classes, one taught with Adger's book and one taught with Carnie's and Carnie's wins hands down. In fact, this book was far clearer than my professor ever was in his lectures. I wish there was some more detailed and more advanced material in the book, but other wise I think it's the best linguistics textbook that I've (been forced to) read.

Carnie's "Syntax" is a good text for the graduate student, although it falls for many of the same pitfalls any beginning syntax book faces. The layout in this book is wonderful. The writing is mostly clear and even has a dry sense of humor at points. Indices are great and it is easy to go back and find what you need. Each chapter - indeed each subsection - has a summary of the ideas learned. For ideas like raising and control this is an invaluable way to quickly compare the differences between the concepts. There are also definitions for the theories and concepts discussed. Great job on this.Exercises are great. Some of them can really push a student. But they are designed in such a way that to solve them, students will usually have to link ideas from other chapters and draw logical conclusions. This really helps students start to build up a linguistic framework, as opposed to just scattered, disparate pieces of information. He relies heavily on Irish. But, in all fairness, the problems are relevant and serve the student well.The only problem the "Syntax" really had is where it chose to simplify the model. Any introduction to syntax has to simplify its model for students to understand. The problem is where to simplify. By and large, Carnie succeeds in making complex material understandable. But in a few cases the simplifications can confuse the student more than the complex concept would have. This is nothing that a good professor can't overcome, though. There are also a few big ideas handled in a cursor way or not at all. DP-hypothesis is mentioned in such a way that the reader wonders why he even brought it up (to be perfectly honest, nothing in his models even require it). VP shells aren't even mentioned. Carnie does a better job than most in incorporating and addressing competing theories. He still has a minimalist perspective - which I don't have a problem with - but is less dogmatic than most. The end of the book even has chapters on Lexical-functional grammar and HPSG. Hey, students are intelligent. Give them the skills and they can make intelligent choices on their own.All-in-all this is a good book for an introductory syntax course at the graduate level. It can be used for a person studying syntax independently, but don't hesitate to check out papers or other texts when you feel confused. There were some concessions made for simplification and often that extra bit of information can make it click.

I'm using this text for college level introductory course in Syntax. The book is a really good source for the basics of X-Bar theory. A few of the concepts lack clear examples, but overall it does a great job of explaining things. In fact, it's clarity (for the most part) helps me sort out what my professor is blathering about. I refer to the book more than my class notes for help in analysing data. I think this is a great book for both students and also those with an interest in linguistics and would like to pursue Syntax in more depth.